


When we were young

by ThisCloudySky



Category: Hermitcraft RPF
Genre: Child Xisuma, Evil X and X are brothers, Gen, Title Subject to Change, X and Evil X are from the end, also ppl might be a bit occ bc i literally have never written befor, baby Scar, but like. different?, first work ever/published, i can’t write and can’t wait to make that your problem, if I’ve done something wrong tell me
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-22
Updated: 2020-12-10
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:14:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 16,978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27144352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThisCloudySky/pseuds/ThisCloudySky
Summary: What happens when two hermits are found, as children? Will they be brought back to normal? What new backstories will be learnt?
Comments: 77
Kudos: 183





	1. A flash, and then?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First chapter! Please do tell me if I’ve made some sort of mistake.
> 
> TW:mentions of abandonment?

He looked around, where was he? Why was his armor so…big? He was lying on the ground, draped in his armor. Even the clothes under the armor seemed huge. He lifted his arms. 

Wait. Why was his armor red? This wasn’t his armor, his armor was green. He must have been wearing Z’s armor. 

Where was Z? He looked around again, this time searching for something. The bright colors around him blurred together as he whipped his head around, bashing his nose into the way too big helmet. He had to get this off, even if he knew he needed the helmet to breathe for long periods in the Overworld, where he appeared to be. 

He hurriedly pushed the helmet off his nose, but it was latched tight to the rest of the armor. He couldn’t get his hands in the gloves, because of how huge the armor was. This was why he had never been allowed to play with Dad’s suit, wasn’t it, he thought sadly.

Tears filled his eyes and he shook them away. He was a big kid, he needed to find Z. Z was counting on him, and they needed food back at their little home they had made in an abandoned end city. Around him, the only sounds were the whisper of trees and parrots, with a slight crackle of magic.

The armor was made of a soft fabric on the inside, with metal platings covering the outside. He tried to unlatch the armor again, this time using the gaps in the playing to push his fingers through and unlatch the helmet. It was difficult, but eventually he knocked the latch loose. He pushed off the big helmet and wiggled the rest of himself out of the top of the armor. Again, he wondered why the armor was so big, and why he was here, not back at home with Z. 

He must have come to the Overworld for food, he thought, yes, they needed food. He looked around where he was, trying to find a place to just grab a little bit of food or materials, where maybe the players wouldn’t notice. The trees were tall, towering above the houses. There was a tall and curved tower atop a small cliff, and gardens full of wheat, tan and ready to be harvested. In the center, a large crystal rested. He could feel the magic radiating from the crystal with his own magic. Maybe he could play with it later, see what it did. _What if it made things fly? That would be so cool, _he thought. Everything around was detailed to a T, so someone had built this by hand. Probably. Maybe this was normal for the Overworld? Then again, there were several blocks he had never seen before. He didn’t think he had missed any updates. He would just grab a couple to bring home to play with. Back to the trees. He was in a jungle he decided, or maybe a forest? He didn’t know very much about the Overworld, as he had only been there once or twice with his father before he left, and even though he had come to the Overworld much more after for food and maybe to nick a small little trinket or toy, he had no one to teach him about the way things worked.__

____

Leaving the armor and helmet where they were on the ground, he picked himself off the ground so that he could walk around to see where he was. Immediately as he took a step, he tripped over the huge clothes he had been wearing under the suit. It seemed like a black undershirt and some long black shorts, but the shirt hung below his knees and the shorts had been the thing to trip him. He wasn’t wearing shoes, his feet having previously been covered with the boots attached to the suit he just escaped. He dusted himself off and got back to his feet. The shorts had ripped at his knees when he fell, scraping up the skin on his knees as well. He almost cried when he saw them, but he knew he shouldn’t. He was a big boy now, and big kids didn’t cry when they scraped their knees. He still wanted a bandaid, he decided.

____

Carefully rolling up the shorts so they bunched around his ankles, he continued on his way, looking around for anything fun or helpful. He seemed to be in a little village. Perfect! Just run and grab a few things from all the houses, and nothing would be noticed. Nobody would catch him this time. 

____

He had just begun to walk towards one of the houses when a cry startled him. The crying sounded a lot like Z, so he turned around and tried to locate the source.

____

He found a baby, a little younger than Z, at the foot of an odd house. The house was big and looked like a giant snail! _A snail, that way so if it ever decides to leave, you could just follow the slimey trail it left behind! _he giggled at the thought, scraped knees forgotten. He thought he might make something like it back at home, and it would surely make Z laugh.__

______ _ _

He turned back to the baby. It was still crying, so he gave it a hug. The baby stopped crying and looked at him curiously. It had big green eyes and a bit of brown hair. It was also surrounded by a lot of purple fabric, a wizards hat, and a lot of little crystals, just like the large one in the center of the village.

______ _ _

Maybe the baby was playing dress up? No, the baby was too little for dress up. Z didn’t even understand dress up, and this baby looked younger than Z. 

______ _ _

The baby reached around itself for the crystals. 

______ _ _

“リ𝙹!” he said. The crystals looked sharp, and also magical. If the baby didn’t have magic, the crystals would hurt it. 

______ _ _

(No!)

______ _ _

The baby looked at him curiously. It didn’t seem to understand. He carefully picked up the crystals from around the baby and put them in a nearby chest. Maybe the baby did have magic, it didn’t seem to be hurt yet, and it probably lived here. Nobody who didn’t have magic could possibly live here! They would get hurt if they accidentally touched the crystals, but there were so many around they were impossible to avoid. All the same, he addressed the baby.

______ _ _

“↸𝙹リ’ℸ ̣ ℸ ̣ 𝙹⚍ᓵ”⍑, he said, “ℸ ̣ ⍑ᔑℸ ̣ ’ꖎꖎ ⍑⚍∷ℸ ̣ ||𝙹⚍”

______ _ _

(Don’t touch, that’ll hurt you)

______ _ _

Again, the baby just cocked its head curiously. Maybe try English? Right, he was in the Overworld, maybe this baby spoke English. 

______ _ _

“Don’t touch,” he tried again. At this the baby’s eyes widened. It finally seemed to understand what he meant. 

______ _ _

He looked around once more. At a second glance,the houses in the village looked empty, like no one lived in them. There were no moving figures and some of the houses didn’t even have doors! He looked to the baby again.

______ _ _

“Is anyone else here?” he asked it. There didn’t seem to be anyone besides the two of them around, but the baby could answer that better than he could. The baby stared at him. For a while, neither made a move to say anything. He could take that to mean there was no one here. Who left the baby alone? Didn’t they know that this baby was too little? They didn’t even leave him with a friend. At least he had Z, and Z had him. He could take care of Z, because he was the older brother. This baby needed a friend.

______ _ _

“Buba?” It asked back. 

______ _ _

“Brother? I’m not your brother” he paused, “but I can help you! Nobody is around here, which means they left you here.” He frowned sadly for a moment, before his face brightened again. “I can take you back to play with Z! You can play with both of us.” He paused to take a breath, then realized it was slowly getting harder to breathe.

______ _ _

The baby looked happy at the mention of playing. It waved it’s small hands around and babbled. The wizard hat fell over its eyes as it attempted to stand up. The fabric around and over it fell down to reveal an oversized grey t-shirt and an odd pair of shorts he couldn’t identify. _Why were the baby’s clothes too big too? _he thought. He wondered if everyone’s clothes had just grown that morning. Wouldn’t have been the weirdest thing he’d seen. The baby couldn’t stand with everything at its feet, so it fell back to the ground with a thump. The baby’s eyes filled with tears as it began to wail again.__

________ _ _ _ _

“No, shh” he said, “Stop crying!” The baby did not stop crying. Instead, it cried harder. He brought his hands to his ears. He had forgotten just how loud everything in the Overworld was without his helmet. At least in the End, the noise didn’t travel. At least in the End, the noises were simply quieter. He needed to get the helmet! It was going to be really hard to breath soon. _Would the helmet even help? _he wondered, It might not work because it was too big. He’d have to try in a minute, when the crying stopped.__

__________ _ _ _ _ _ _

_I can’t hear you! _He thought. Simply thinking at the baby did nothing. He stuck out his tongue in the baby’s direction, just to see what it would do. It didn’t smile at him, or even react at all. Now he was frustrated. The baby wasn’t reacting to him trying to make it laugh! Z usually stopped crying if he made faces. He glared at the baby, maybe that would make it stop.__

____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

The baby cried on, as they stood, or sat, in the baby’s case, in a standoff of who would last longer. He looked at the baby, the baby cried at him. Around them, the sky darkened with the coming of night. Neither child noticed, both too focused on the other, or simply didn’t realize what night brought.

____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

The baby won. He frowned as he removed his hands from his ears and sat down next to it. The baby wasn’t that much smaller than him, he thought. If he wanted to get it to move, or carry it, it would probably be a lot more difficult than carrying Z. 

____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

As he sat next to the crying child, he though of ways to move it. If he wanted to play with Z, he would need to use his magic to either open a portal, or teleport home. He didn’t know if the baby would like the portals, so he would have to secure it to him for a teleport. As he thought, he looked to the sky to see it had become almost as dark as the end.

____________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_Wait a minute, _he thought, _the dark in the Overworld held monsters! Big scary ones, Zombies, and the shooty ones. Weren’t there also big ones that exploded? _He wanted to see one, just to be sure they were real. As he looked around, he saw no such monsters. The area was too well lit, especially around the snail-house.____

_______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Abruptly, the baby stopped crying, starling him out of his thoughts. It looked at the sky as a creature swooped down on it.

_______________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _


	2. A Creature?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which he finds two creatures, scary and otherwise.
> 
> TW: none that I know of

A large, leathery abomination flew through the air. It was a dark purple with glowing green eyes, and an odd sort of tail. The creature stopped it’s descent just short of hitting the baby. It flew back into the air, assumedly for a second dive.

He jumped up to block the creature’s next dive, but it never came. The creature had decided that they were not worth fighting, or that they weren’t what it was looking for. 

He looked around for anything he could use to get the baby to come with him. Maybe he could tie it to himself? He needed to move fast. He looked around to the absolute mess of multicolored boxes around. They weren’t anything he’d see before, but they appeared hollow on the inside, like a chest. He opened one. Inside was a mess of random items, one being a pile of string. _Yes! I can use this to help the baby hold on! _he thought.__

__He quickly grabbed the string, but realized it was getting extremely hard to breathe and he would not be able to hold the baby without the helmet._ _

__He quickly walked over to the abandoned suit, breathing heavily, and grabbed the helmet. He left the suit on the ground, because he couldn’t carry everything, and he trusted it would still be there in the morning. He put the helmet on his head, careful not to bash his nose this time, and adjusted the airlock to be tight to his neck. The helmet rested on his shoulders, not his head, but it would have to do._ _

__He walked briskly back to the baby, twisting the string in his hands to create many loops and straps. It came out to be a sort of baby swaddle, with straps loose that he could tie to himself. As he reached the baby, he realized it was going to be very difficult to carry the baby._ _

__“We are going into the house,” he told the baby, “It’s tall and we have to climb the ladder.” The baby looked up at him, staring at the helmet. It looked confused. He paid it no mind and continued speaking, “I’m going to pick you up so we can climb. It will be like a piggyback ride!”_ _

__The baby raised its hands towards him, so he could grab it. He put its legs in the sling, and helped it balance with a hand. He crouched lower to tie the straps to his arms, and attempted to stand._ _

__The baby was much heavier than Z, who he was used to having to carry. _Not anymore! _He thought, _Z is big enough to run around now. He’s too big to carry. _It was going to be a long way up the ladder._____ _

______He slowly made his way to the base of the ladder, helmet and baby jostling as he walked. The baby was babbling again, and waving its arms wildly. He grabbed a hold of the ladder and began to climb._ _ _ _ _ _

_______Who builds the entrance to their house up a ladder? _he thought, _It’s so hard to get up there! Then again, the builder of the house had also made it to resemble a giant snail, so the ladder wasn’t the weirdest thing. ______ _ _ _ _ _

__________He paused to breathe. The baby was so, so heavy. He was only half way up. _Just a little further, _he told himself, Then we explore the house and maybe find some food!___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________At the thought of food, his stomach growled. He was very hungry, at home he and Z conserved the food they had, because it was difficult to get to the overworld and find a village to take from. Even when he did find a village, sometimes the villagers caught him and held him there. They would lock him in a house and were always waiting to show him to someone. He’d learned more English by listening to them talk, but could never figure out who they planned to show him to. He never stuck around long enough to see the mysterious person, who was always just called Player. The villagers never seemed to realize he could just teleport out of the house, but he wasn’t complaining, because that meant anytime he was caught, he waited until they locked him in the house, teleported out with his magic, then created a portal and when home to Z with whatever he had managed to find. He was glad this village was abandoned. At least, seemed to be abandoned._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Finally, he was at the top of the ladder. He opened the door and stumbled inside. He quickly untied himself and the baby. The baby sat back on the floor. Purple fabric left outside, it seemed to be wearing a large white shirt._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Free from the weight of the baby, stood to close the door. He seemed to be in a kitchen of some sort. _Yes! Probably some food around! _He saw some multicolored boxes, similar to the ones he had found string in outside. He opened one up. Again, there was a wild assortment of items, blocks, and a singular carrot. He took the carrot and continued to the next box. Nothing. Next box held some steak, so he took that too. Fourth box also held carrots, but they were covered in a golden outer layer. He wasn’t sure if they could still be eaten, but he took them anyway. The fifth and last box was the best of all. Inside was filled with all sorts of food, and even cookies! He took the cookies and wandered back to where the baby sat, still right next to the door.___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________He handed it a cookie and sat down next to it to eat his own cookie. The baby ate the cookie happily, crumbs flying everywhere. When they both finished, he gave the baby the carrot. The baby wouldn’t take it. It pointed at the shiny carrots he held. _Well, might as well see if they’re good, _he thought as he bit down on one.___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________They were! They tasted just like regular carrots, so he gave one to the baby. It smiled and ate about half of it._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________The rest of the food he gathered he put into the the fifth box. He looked around the room for a bed as the baby slobbered on the remnants of its carrot. He didn’t see a bed, but behind the baby, next to the door was a ladder leading up to a second layer within the snail._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________The baby would be fine while he went up to look around, he thought. He walked over to it and told it to stay where it was. He climbed up the ladder to look at the room above._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________It was a bedroom! It had a purple bed in the center of the back wall, with a shelf full of plants on the left. More colorful boxes were scattered around this room too. On the right of the bed was what looked to be a smaller bed, but it was circular and had a creature in it. The creature was small and grayish white, with darker grey and brown spots. It was wearing a name tag around its neck, and appeared to be asleep. He stared at it for a moment. It didn’t look scary, if it was going to attack him it would have done so already. They would be safe to sleep here, at least for tonight._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________Tomorrow he would make a portal back home, he decided, when he wasn’t so tired. Z knew he was going to be gone a while, going to the Overworld usually took around a day and a night._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________He made his way back down the ladder to the baby. He hopped off, careful not to step on the baby or hit his head in the inside of the helmet. The baby was done with the carrot, so he helped it stand again. Its legs were still in the sling, so he attached it to himself again. He climbed up the ladder again, and stepped up into the bedroom. With the baby still on his back, he tiptoed over to the bed, practically hugging the left wall, carefully so as not to wake the creature._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________Though, the baby had other plans. As they got to the bed, it screeched excitedly. The creature awoke with a start, and uncurled itself in the little bed. It stared at them curiously, but seemed to recognize the baby. Slowly and carefully, jumped on the bed and began walking over to them._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________He held onto the sling tightly, just in case he need to get away from the creature._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________Slowly, the creature lay itself down on the bed next to where he was standing._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________Apparently it wasn’t hostile. He let the baby down from his back, setting it on the floor next to the bed. He put the string on the shelf of plants, and turned back to the bed. The baby was standing, balancing itself with the bad. It was trying to reach for the creature. Falling against the bed, the baby gave the creature a pat. The creature allowed it. It crawled closer to the baby so that the baby could reach it easier. The baby babbled, speaking words he didn’t understand. It kept repeating two words, both words he didn’t know._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_________________Key and Gel-we? What do those mean? _he thought. Maybe one was the creature’s name. He would call the creature Key, he decided. The baby continued trying to reach for Key, so he helped it on top of the bed. He sat next to both of them. Key stood and crawled on the lap of the now sitting baby. The baby cooed and grabbed its fur happily.___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________Maybe he could touch the creature? Tentatively, he reached his hand closer to Key’s back. His hand met soft fur, and the creature seemed happy, so he continued stroking its back._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________Suddenly, the creature started to vibrate. He jumped back in alarm. He almost accidentally teleported out of the house, but caught himself in time. He backed away slowly, until his back was against a wall. The baby was unbothered by the creature’s sudden noise and movement. The baby seemed to know Key, so maybe it was ok? He slowly made his way back to the bed. As he approached, the creature stood and slipped out of the baby’s grasp to look at him. It had stopped vibrating, so he sat back on the bed._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________The creature sat on his lap! He giggled quietly, and began to pet its back. Again, the creature began vibrating. This time, he didn’t jump back. He simply stayed very, very still._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________The baby crawled over to be closer to him and Key. It too began to try and pet Key. It wasn’t very gentle, but the creature put up with it. He looked over the creature once again. It was wearing a collar, he recalled. The collar had a little tag on it, but he couldn’t read yet, especially in English._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________He was so tired that he was having trouble keeping his eyes open. He lifted the helmet off of his head, and set it in the ground. He mustered up enough energy to put the creature and baby on the pillow so he could gather up the blankets, then tucked the baby under the covers. The creature clearly did not want to be under the covers with the baby, as it hissed softly when he tried to shove it under the comforter. It hopped down from the bed and sat on the small bed, which was presumably its bed. The baby was asleep before the creature could even get to the floor, so he decided to sleep on the side of the floor the creature was not on. He looked around for some blankets, struggling to keep his eyes open for much longer. He found some in one of the boxes, and arranged them around himself in a sort of nest. His last thought before he drifted off to sleep was that he needed to get to Z quickly tomorrow._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _


	3. Where’s Xisuma?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the other hermits grow worried
> 
> TW: None that I know of

Keralis was concerned. Everyone was. Xisuma has sent a rather cryptic message in chat, then proceeded to stop responding to messages just a little while later. It was early in the morning of the second day with no responses, so he was determined to find Xisuma. It was possible he was simply sleeping, but that was highly unlikely, knowing Xisuma. The man never seemed to sleep. He was always running around, fixing bugs or building up his own base and farms. The hermits were a chaotic bunch, always accidentally breaking things with their farms and time machines. It was almost like Xisuma was in two places at once, running around to different hermits and fixing problems so fast you might have thought he was teleporting. Keralis didn’t know how Xisuma did it, there simply wasn’t enough time in the day. He opened his communicator to a chat from two days ago.

[XisumaVoid] _Guys, if you see someone you don’t know on the server, stay away from them. ___

__[XisumaVoid] _Not that anyone is here now, but I think they may find me soon. _____

____[Keralis1] _Dude, what is going on? _____ _ _

______[Iskall85] _What? _____ _ _ _ _

________[Docm77] _Is someone here that isn’t supposed to be? _____ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________[Docm77] _Oh nvm just read the second part _____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________[Iskall85] _That makes you LESS concerned, Doc? _____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________[XisumaVoid] _Just be careful _____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________[XisumaVoid] _Scar, you free for a bit today? _____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________[GoodtimewithScar] _Yup, come on over! _____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________The other hermits had responded with varying amounts of concern, but after the message to Scar, Xisuma stopped responding._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________That was the last any of the hermits has seen or heard from Xisuma in two days. Scar had interacted with the chat that evening, saying X was just taking a look at his new very powerful, very magic crystals, and would anyone like to buy some? It wasn’t unlike some of the hermits to forget to respond to chat, they just got really busy with projects, but Xisuma’s message combined with him not responding just seemed...off. He scrolled down to the end of today’s conversation. He typed in the chat._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________[Keralis1] _I’m going to look for Xisuma. Anyone want to come with? _____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________[BdoubleO100] _I’ll come, he didn’t respond to me earlier when I asked him where he was _____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________[Grian] _I’ll go. I haven’t seen Scar in a while either, so we can look out for him too. _____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________Satisfied with his small search party, Keralis briefly closed the communicator before typing one last message._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

___________________________Meet me at Shashammy’s base in 10 _____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________He closed the chat before pulling a rockets out and blasting off into the sky._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________As he flew the short distance between his little city and Xisuma’s towers, he wondered who could be trying to get to Xisuma. It had to have been someone from Xisuma’s past, who was probably dangerous by the sound of the message. Who could it be? Keralis didn’t know. Xisuma never said anything about where he had been before Hermitcraft, Keralis had never even seen him without his helmet. A man of mystery, that XisumaVoid._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________He touched down at Xisuma’s main tower and looked around inside, calling Xisuma’s name as he waited for the other two to arrive. He didn’t expect Xisuma to be in his towers, he never seemed to stay at his base for long. He heard the faint sound of rockets being spammed. Grian has arrived, he thought, just as Grian’s head appeared above him._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________“How are you supposed to get inside this thing?” exclaimed Grian, somehow landing on his feet after falling headfirst to the floor, folding his wings neatly behind him._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________“Did you not see the large entrances on all sides of this tower?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________“Umm… No. Just landed on top!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________Lost in their banter, neither noticed Bdubs flying in behind them._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________“Hello! Are we checking Xisuma’s base first?” asked Bdubs._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________“Good of a place to start as any.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________Methodically, the three of them checked all of Xisuma’s towers, searching for either a sleeping Xisuma, or signs of a struggle. They found neither._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________“Check his farms?” suggested Grian._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________“Either of you know where his farms are?” Keralis glanced at the other two. “No? I guess we go together.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________They made their way to Xisuma’s nether portal. They stepped through, grimacing as the hot nether air reached their lungs. Following Xisuma’s sign posts, they made their way around to all his farms. It didn’t take long, but there was still no sign of him anywhere. Rather dejectedly, the three returned to Xisuma’s base._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________“We should check on Scar’s base,” said Grian._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________The other two nodded in agreement. They set off through the air, flying quietly through the morning air. As they floated to the ground outside the village, the stillness gave all three of them a pause. Scar’s village usually gave off a happy, cozy vibe, but not knowing where Scar or Xisuma was put the three of them on edge. The curtains on Scar’s snail were drawn, and no movement could be seen inside, so the three split up to look around the rest of the village._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________“Might want to alert the others...” said Keralis, trailing off. His eyes were drawn to a bit of red fabric almost hidden in the alleyway between two houses. It was Xisuma’s strider armor._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________“Did you find something?” asked Bdubs, walking over to Keralis. When the suit came into his line of view, he too stopped and stared at it._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________“Guys?” called Grian. Grian was closer to Scar’s snail house, staring at the ground where a discarded fake beard lay, surrounded by a dozen or so small indents in the ground. “I found something,”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________The other two remained silent, thoughts racing as Grian made his way closer, fiddling with the edge of his red sweater. Spotting the suit, Grian asked “Do you think he’s alright? I don’t think I’ve ever seen him not wear his suit”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________“I don’t know,” Keralis answered truthfully, “I’ve known him the longest, and even I have never seen him without it”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________“Where’s his helmet?” Bdubs asked, “Does he need it?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________“Yes,” said Keralis “He needs the helmet,”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________At least the helmet not being here means Xisuma could possibly still have it, thought Keralis._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________“Why?” came a quiet question from Grian, voicing what both he and Bdubs were thinking._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________“It’s not my place to tell. Ask Xisuma if we find him,”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________“If we find him?” Bdubs knelt to softly pick up the armor. “We should tell the others about this”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________Keralis, the apparent leader of the little group, opened his communicator. He typed slowly, deleting what he wrote a few times in order to get the wording right._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________[Keralis1] _Guys, we’ve been looking for Xisuma and possibly Scar for a little while now, and we have some possibly bad news. _____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________________[Keralis1] _We found his armor on the ground by Scar’s Village. We haven’t found any other signs of him. _____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________________He closed the communicator, not wanting to see the messages that would follow. Keralis motioned for Grian and Bdubs, who was holding the suit, to follow him. He pulled out a rocket and flew into the sky, towards the shopping district. All three flew silently, the only sound being the occasional buzzing of communicator alerts. Grian typed out another message._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________________________________[Grian] _We are headed back to the shopping district _____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________________________________[Grian] _Meet there to discuss what to do _____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________________________________[Grian] _Everyone please _____ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________________________Seeing that Keralis and Bdubs had not checked the message, Grian broke the silence._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________________________“I told the others to meet up in the shopping district. Everyone should come, we can see if anyone else doesn’t show up”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________________________Keralis nodded, eyes focused on the armor draped over Bdubs arm. He was lost in his own thoughts, worrying if Xisuma was ok, if Scar was ok, if they would ever find them. Could Xisuma breathe? He hoped the helmet was still with Xisuma. Xisuma has told him once, in a moment of panic, that he could no longer breathe without the helmet. The helmet had cracked after a bad fall, dials and seal broken. He had then asked to be helped get to back his base. Once Keralis had helped him back, he had disappeared into a room, asking not to be followed. Keralis hung around until he was sure Xisuma was alright, then left without getting an explanation. It was the only moment of weakness Xisuma had ever shown, that he knew of. Sure, he seemed stressed sometimes, but generally no emotion could be heard in his voice, or seen in his face, because it was covered by the helmet. That was why he had been so scared that day, when he had heard the genuine fear and panic creeping into Xisuma’s voice. Even later, he never pressed Xisuma for answers, he had been fairly certain it wasn’t something Xisuma ever meant to tell him. Now he was wishing he had pressed for more details, anything to know if Xisuma would need more than normal help, or even if he could survive without the suit. It was funny, he thought, how Xisuma had managed to help everyone on the server with their past, while simultaneously never saying a peep about his own. The quickly approaching ground of the shopping district drew him out of his thoughts._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________________________Several people were already there, gathered in little groups, whispering amongst themselves. As the three touched down, the everone erupted into questions._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________________________“What happened? Any signs of a struggle?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________________________“All of his armor?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________________________“Do you think he’s ok?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________________________“Can we examine the armor?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________________________“Can he even survive without the armor?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________________________With the last question, everyone else stopped talking. Etho continued quietly, “I mean, he never takes it off so there’s probably a reason behind it”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________________________Everyone looked around nervously. All of their inner concerns had just been voiced, and they weren’t sure if that was a question they actually wanted to know the answer to. Everyone looked expectantly at Keralis, even the few who had just arrived. He wondered why they were all looking at him. Right, he knew Xisuma best. He took a deep breath._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________________________“I think he is fine without the body armor. I assume he still has the helmet, it wasn’t with the rest of the suit.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________________________Bdubs held out the suit, showing it to everyone. The group remained silent, they didn’t know why the helmet was significant, but no one was about to just go out and ask._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________________________Grian glanced around at all of the hermits gathered around. Mentally he counted up who all were there. No one was missing except for Xisuma and Scar. He gathered up his courage and spoke._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________________________“Scar is also missing. He didn’t show up here and his village looked abandoned.” He glanced around once more, this time gauging the reactions of everyone._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________________________“What should we do? Xisuma is kind of our leader, he knows all the commands and stuff.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________________________“Well, I know a bit, so I could help out with small problems?” Tango said, a bit uncertainly. He waited for a second in the silence, clearly expecting someone else to step up as well. His eyes landed on Joe, who also had admin access._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________________________Joe, noticing the eyes on him, quickly stepped in front of the crowd. “So y’all, Mr. Tango and I will be stepping up to the metaphorical plate in Xisuma’s absence, so come and see us with any and all of your server issues!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________________________The hermits around nodded in agreement, teasing some of the more lag creating hermits before falling silent again._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________________________“So, there’s one problem addressed. We still have to find Xisuma and Scar. Does anyone know about what Xisuma might have been talking about in the chat a couple days ago?” Keralis asked, hoping that someone would give an answer._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________________________A hand was slowly raised in the back of the group, by Hypno. Slowly, he spoke, “Would Evil Xisuma know anything?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________________________The crowd erupted into conversation, discussing if bringing Evil Xisuma back into the picture was a good idea._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________________________“He was fine last time he was here!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________________________“The time before that he tried to kill you!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________________________“I was fine! He just wanted a friend!”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________________________Evil Xisuma was just as much of a mystery as Xisuma, perhaps even more so. He, like Xisuma, was never without his armor and helmet. He had a deep voice, for effect, however it was suspected that the sound was manipulated through his helmet. Additionally, it seemed he had just appeared one day with no explanation. He’d just popped up and asked for Xisuma, who seemed to at least recognize him, then disappeared, only to reappear later wreaking havoc on the hermit’s builds. It was assumed by most of the hermits that Evil Xisuma was someone Xisuma had known before hermitcraft, however the exact details of their relationship were unknown._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________________________“Wait! Who even is this?” Grian was very confused. He had never heard of Evil Xisuma before, he didn’t know why the others were arguing about him so fiercely. Maybe Evil Xisuma was Evil? The name had to mean something. Still didn’t explain why Zedaph was arguing that Evil Xisuma was actually very friendly. Too much. He shook his head._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________________________“So! This Evil Xisuma guy might know about what’s happened to Xisuma,” he shouted over the crowd, “Where might we go about finding him?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________________________“Before we make any impulsive decisions, let’s search around some more,” Keralis placated the crowd, “How about Grian, Bdubs and I go back to the village, Etho, Beef and Wels to Xisuma’s base, Tango and Joe on standby for server issues and everyone else just continue as normal, but be careful.”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________________________“Alright”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________________________“Fine with me”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________________________The sound of many rockets filling the air as the hermits went their separate ways. The team assigned to watch Xisuma’s base took off almost perfectly in sync, yelling behind them that they would send a message in chat if anything weird happened. Tango and Joe stepped to the side to yell that Mumbo and Doc not breaking the server would be appreciated, before they too, went back to their bases._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________________________Finally, the only people left in the shopping district were Keralis, Bdubs and Grian. Grian began to ask questions about what was going on with Evil Xisuma, talking a mile a minute. Keralis and Bdubs gave vague answers, not intentionally, but simply because not much was known about the guy. They made their way to the town hall building to find somewhere to put the suit. They settled on tucking it away safely in a chest just inside of the half-finished building. Seeing the suit was safe, they all took to the skies towards Scar’s village._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________________________As they touched down in Scar’s village for the second time that morning, something felt…different. Perhaps it was that they could see it better without the early morning fog, he reasoned. Suddenly, Keralis remembered something. Grian had said he found something before they found the suit! Maybe it was a clue on what had happened? Out loud, he asked Grian what he had seen earlier._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________________________“Oh yeah! I found Scar’s costume beard and a bunch of little marks in the dirt closer to the snail,” he said as he led the other two to a corner, towards the snail house._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________________________Abruptly, Grian stopped. He put a finger to his lips. Keralis continued forward, tiptoeing around the corner to get a glimpse of whatever Grian has seen. Behind him, Bdubs stopped as well._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

______________________________________As he turned the corner, he spied what Grian had seen. Reaching into a Shulker box, bent over so far that it was almost inside of said box, was a child._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, there are probably many typos in this chapter because it is 1:30am as I write this.
> 
> Also this chapter is pretty angsty but we will be back to X’s POV soon
> 
> Thank you so much for the support so far!
> 
> Also I’ve stared planning scenes and a couple are just so dang cute, so expect to see some more of that soon!


	4. A Meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which both parties meet, and we learn of new powers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the long wait! I had a LOT of schoolwork for a little while. Thanks for the support on this so far as well!
> 
> TW: None I think

When he woke the next morning, he was having a really hard time breathing. His chest was tight, his throat scratchy and sore. He immediately reached his arm out for the helmet, and began to panic, not finding it within reach. He sat up, staring around the blankets he was curled up in. There! By the bed was the large helmet. He crawled over to it and quickly put it over his face and mouth. It sealed around him and the tightness in his chest loosened. 

It was slowly getting longer, the time between needing the helmet. The first time he had come out to the overworld, when his father had been with him, he barely had been able to take it off for a minute. He had wheezed and gasped almost immediately, but his father had been there, comforting, telling him he would need to have it off so eventually he would adjust. He had not understood, then. He had only been three years old, that was half his life ago. Now he kept with what his father had told him, keeping the helmet off as long as he was able. He had managed a whole night, that was the longest it had been so far! 

Wait. He forgot about finding Z! He looked around for the baby so he could make a portal. It was already up, trying to follow Key around on the floor. Both parties seemed to be having a fun time, so he got up and walked over to them. Maybe Key could come through the portal too. Z would like it and its soft fur, and the baby already seemed to know it. It would be hard, though, to transport all three of them. He would have to open the portal, then grab hold of all of them to teleport home. He tried to open a portal to his home. It didn’t work. He tried again. It was like the dimension he lived in wasn’t even there. He couldn’t feel it like he usually could.

Why doesn’t it work? He began to panic, I need to get back to Z! 

His eyes filled with tears as he tried to think of a way back. He turned and buried his face in the bed, helmet and all. The baby seemed to take notice of his crying, crawling towards him and hugging his legs. He sniffled and pulled off the helmet to wipe his tears. He remembered the box form earlier, filled with cookies. A cookie would be good, he decided.

Eyes still leaking a few tears, he disentangled himself from the baby, assuring it he was ok. He made his way down the ladder and grabbed the cookies from the box. He was back up the ladder, sharing cookies with the baby when he remembered that he could get back home another way. It would take a lot longer. He would have to gather up ender pearls, find blaze powder and make his way to the stronghold. He didn’t even know where you would find any of those things! He couldn’t fight mobs, they were too scary. He knew sometimes the villages had the ender pearls in their chests. Maybe this village would have some? 

Finishing his cookie, he stood. Turning to the baby, he told it he would be back in a minute. He trusted it wouldn’t do anything dangerous. He climbed down the ladder and turned to the door. Looking out, he spied the mess of multicolored boxes from last night. He scrambled down the ladder to begin his search. In the first boxes, he found nothing of use. Just lots of sand, why anyone would collect that much of it was beyond him. 

Moving on, the next couple just had a random assortment of items, some of which he had never seen nor heard of before. Brightly colored blocks, a hollow green stick, a sticky orangish yellow substance. While new and interesting, they were not what he was looking for. He was about at the middle of the mess when he felt eyes on him.

He pulled his head out of the box, looking around wildly at the surrounding area. Were there villagers around? He hadn’t seen any last night. He would not be caught again, not when he couldn’t get back home easily. 

Whipping his head around, he spotted something by the side of one of the houses. Something was staring at him. It didn’t look like a villager, or any of the creatures he knew from the Overworld. It wasn’t an enderman, didn’t look like the creature from the house. It looked like…him. Kind of. Warnings ran through his head. Stay away. Don’t let them catch you. 

———————————-

The kid pulled its head out of the shulker box and gazed around wildly. Keralis didn’t think to hide behind the house quickly enough, because the kid spotted him. Well, no use in hiding now. He began to slowly walk towards the child, despite the protests of Grian and Bdubs. It looked terrified, poor thing. Couldn’t have been older than four, and skinny as a twig. From his distance, he couldn’t make out anything else about it. It was just stood there, staring at him, until suddenly, it was just...gone. Keralis didn’t see it run, it just poofed out of his sight, leaving nothing but purple particles behind. He had no idea where it went, until he spotted the door to Scar’s snail swing shut out of the corner of his eye. He was about to try to go after the kid, until a hand on his shoulder stopped him. 

“Wait a minute!” Bdubs half shouted, quickly hushed by Grian. He glared at Grian, but continued, “What if it’s the person X was warning us about?”

“It’s a kid. Surely Xisuma meant something a little more threatening?”

“It’s probably friendly! It’s so little!” said Grian.

“Yeah, smaller than you, little guy” Bdubs teased.

Keralis joined in as well, momentarily distracted.

“Hey! The kid’s upstairs now!” Bdubs exclaimed, pointing at a movement in the upper window.

“Alright. Keralis, message the others. Bdubs, keep watching the windows. Are we going inside?” Grian was taking charge of the operation, trying to decide what to do.

Keralis opened his communicator, beginning to type. Grian and Bdubs followed suit, continuing part of the conversation virtually.

[Keralis1] We found someone at Scar’s Village, we are going to follow.

[StressMonster101] Are ya ok?

[Bdoubleo100] We’re fine, everything is just GREAT

[Bdoubleo100] Just random children, appearing out of nowhere!

[MumboJumbo] Children?

[Grian] yea the person’s a kid

[Keralis1] Someone call Evil Xisuma and tell him what’s going on

[StressMonster101] I did! Do we want him to come here?

[StressMonster101] Please?

[Zedaph] He won’t destroy anything!

[MumboJumbo] Who do we even ask permission from?

[Grian] I can be in charge!

[Iskall85] NO

[MumboJumbo] NO

[TangoTek] NO

[Docm77] NO

[Grian] Hey! I wouldn’t cause that much trouble

[Grian] Also Tango and Joe get Mr. Evil dude to come here 

[Grian] We will bring the kid back to my base so meet there

Grian closed his communicator. 

“So…” he said, “are we gonna go find the kid?”

“Yes. Even though Shashwam said not to go near new people, the kid wouldn’t be able to hurt even one of us.”

“Ok. So Bdubs, you get to be the lookout! Keralis and I will go inside to see what’s happening.”

“I get to be the lookout!” Bdubs exclaimed happily, already scanning the outside of the snail.

———————————

Things were going on outside, that much he could tell. He peeked his head over the window of the upper level, already having rushed inside. There were more people outside, two more having emerged from behind the house. 

He moved away from the window, gathering the baby and Key by the pile of blankets he had slept in. It was the furthest point from the door, and small enough he could put a shield around. He searched for the helmet, finding it already tucked away in the blankets. He was panicked, moving around quickly and breathing fast. 

He sat back by the baby and began to gather energy. He wanted to make a little barrier, a shield around himself. Barriers took a lot of energy to maintain, he would only be able to hold it for a few minutes, hopefully that would be long enough that the people would leave. 

He was scared, he heard them coming up the ladder, somehow they knew he was upstairs. He created the barrier.

———————————

Grian popped his head up the ladder to the top floor. He didn’t know what he expected to find, however, a child in a barrier cube was not it. The kid was behind Scar’s bed, opposite the ladder. He could only see its head from where he was, so he carefully walked around to the other side. Keralis was following behind him, big eyes watchful. 

The kid scrambled to its feet as they approached, standing at the front of the cube. Behind it was a mass of blankets, and a…baby? This situation gets weirder by the second. Also behind the older child was…Jellie?  
What the heck is going on here? The baby was patting her happily. It reminded Grian of Scar. The baby almost looked like Scar, but that was probably just his imagination. The first child was still standing in front, almost as if it were trying to shield the other with its body. The kid looked around four, but who was he to guess ages. It had brown hair and purple eyes. Purple eyes? It also had lots of freckles, also purple. The kid kept staring at him, obviously terrified. 

“Hey, hey, it’s ok, we’re gonna hurt you” he tried. Could the kid even hear him through the barrier?

Eyes narrowing, the child crossed its arms. Apparently it could hear him. He looked behind him to Keralis, wondering what to do. Keralis shrugged, gesturing to the cube as if to say, you came up here first, figure it out. 

Clearly, a plan here might have been a good idea. Rushing in head on might work for him most of the time, but he had a feeling he would need to take this one slow. How could he get the child to come out of the cube? Could the kid get out of the cube? How’d it get in? Too many questions. He looked into his inventory for something to bribe the child. It was full of shulkers so he quickly pulled them out and opened them. First one, terracotta, next, full of tnt. Keralis gave him a pointed look when he caught a glimpse of it. 

Looking back to the child, who was watching them like a hawk, he pulled out a third. This one had several things in it, just things he didn’t have a place for. Some blocks, a couple of shells, random food. 

Keralis stepped behind him to whisper in his ear, “Give it something kids like. Treats and toys?” Clearly neither of them had interacted with children in a while.

He grabbed the cookies from his box and thought about where he could find something like a toy. Scar had a stuffed cat, he remembered. It was on a shelf, so he grabbed that too. He sat down in front of the cube, wings tucked behind him. He slowly reached out his hand, holding both items.

——————————

He couldn’t make out what the people on the other side of the barrier were saying, but he didn’t trust them. Why did they have to keep talking in English? He just wanted to know what they were planning, were they going to give him back to the villagers? Would they let him try to go home? Would they take the baby and Key? 

One of the people was stepping closer to his box. He jumped to his feet, trying to protect the baby. 

But the person didn’t try to break the barrier. He studied the person. The person had blonde hair and fair skin. He was wearing a red sweater and on his back were a set of wings. Real wings, brown and feathery. That’s cool, he thought. Flying would be so fun. The second person he couldn’t see as well, but was wearing an orange vest and had brown hair. Orange Vest stepped closer to talk to Sweater. While they weren’t looking at him, he tried to open a portal again. Still wasn’t working. Why wasn’t it working?

Red Sweater was looking through boxes, the same kind that were outside. He didn’t know where Red Sweater was getting the boxes. He seemed to just pull them out of thin air. Maybe it was a different kind of magic, he thought. The barrier was getting harder to hold, he was going to have to drop it soon. Would the people leave in time?

Red Sweater had stopped pulling out boxes and was now crouched in front of him. Why was he sitting down if he was going to try to break the barrier or get him? Was it a trick?

Red Sweater was holding two items in his hand. A cookie, and a toy. He was slowly pushing them towards the barrier. 

He regarded them suspiciously. Why would Red Sweater do that? He was barely holding the barrier, it was going to collapse soon if he didn’t drop it. He was going to collapse soon if he didn’t drop it. The baby behind him seemed to want Red Sweater’s offering, but he turned to keep it from taking them. He was so tired already, just from holding the barrier. He turned back to face Red Sweater. Still distrustful of them, he watched as Red Sweater placed both items on the ground, inches from the barrier. Red Sweater pulled back his hand and sat back a few feet. He was so tired, but he still didn’t trust this offering. Both parties stared at each other.

—————————-

The barrier dropped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I’ve not been really clear on magic, but some people have it here. Scar, Grian, and a couple others have it, but that’s not what is being observed here. Grian is just pulling stuff from his inventory and he’s never seen that before.
> 
> Ask any questions in the comments because that probably made no sense.


	5. The Trip Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which both children are mostly asleep, and Evil Xisuma makes his first appearance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: None

The barrier dropped, and so did the child behind it. Its eyes fluttered shut as the child dropped into the blankets behind it. Grian looked to Keralis, worried. 

Slowly, he stepped toward the fallen child. Was it sleeping? Passed out? Either way, they were supposed to bring them back to his base to meet with the others. 

He motioned Keralis closer, “Why don’t you grab the little one and I’ll carry the other”

“Are you sure? I’m taller, so I could take the bigger one.”

“Hey!” He whisper-yelled, “I’m not that small!”

Keralis reached for the baby in the blankets. It lifted its arms, ready to be lifted up. The baby didn’t look nearly as scared as the older child, it looked fairly happy to be around them. Keralis picked it, settling it on his hip. The baby seemed fine with this, only mildly upset about being removed from petting Jellie. Keralis gave it the plush cat, still on the floor after being used as a peace offering. 

“Go out and meet Bdubs, I’ll yell if I need help.”

Grian turned his back to Keralis and hesitantly reached out an arm to touch the child still collapsed on the floor. To his surprise and relief, the child didn’t jerk back.  _ Wait, that could be bad. _ Either way, he scooped up the child, placing its head on his shoulder. The child was very light, looking skinny and frail on his arm. It really couldn’t have been much older than four, and was wearing a very large black shirt. 

He stopped staring at the child and made his way towards the ladder, careful not to bump anything on the way there. 

He made it all the way outside without the child stirring, and was met with a very surprised Bdubs conversing with Keralis about what had gone on inside the snail, whilst simultaneously entertaining the baby. 

Bdubs was waving around the little plush cat and making faces, while also engaging in a serious conversation about what to do. The baby was making every attempt to get the doll, delighted with the game. 

Grian walked over to them.

“So that’s the other one?”

“Yup, be quiet. I think it’s asleep, not passed out”

“Are we headed to your mansion?” Bdubs handed the child the toy as he took out his rockets.

“Yeah,” said Grian, “but I can’t fly holding it like this.”

“Just move him,” said Keralis, “I could fly holding mine like this.” He gestured with his free hand at the baby on his hip.

“But what if it wakes up?”

They would walk, then, it was decided. Grian didn’t want to risk the kid waking up and running away again, or making another magic barrier thing.

“Walking is so boring,” he said, sighing.

“Such horrors, walking. I’m sure you won’t survive”

“Hey!”

They made their way towards the mansion, through the jungle. The underbrush was dense, but a small path had been cut out early in the season by Grian, solely to prank Scar without being noticed in the skies. 

Distantly, Grian was glad he had dug the path. The child was getting heavier by the minute, and he really wasn’t used to walking much. With his wings, he didn’t need to wait for someone to defeat the dragon to fly. He wondered if people had already gathered in his mansion, like he had asked on chat. He hoped Stress was there, he assumed she would know if the kids were hurt. She was their resident medic, after all. 

Keralis and Bdubs were talking, unbothered by all the walking. After all, just last season they had made a village where flying was banned! They were used to it.

The child he was holding seemed to stir for a moment. He paused in his walking, standing stock-still. The child curled around in his grasp, grabbing around his neck before stilling again. Keralis looked back at him. 

“I think I can fly now,” he stared, before launching himself into the sky.

Keralis and Bdubs followed suit, making the short trip to the mansion in no time. Gathered at the mansion were a few hermits, notably Stress. With her were Joe and Doc. 

As they touched down, Stress greeted the trio happily.

“Aww, it’s just a baby! He’s so cute!” Stress cooed at the baby Keralis held, not having noticed that Grian too, held a child.

“Ahh, well, there’s actually two of them,” explained Keralis, gesturing towards Grian, who was standing off to the side. 

Stress glanced over to Grian while he quickly asked her to check the child over, not explaining further.

The group walked inside, joined by Doc and Joe, who had just arrived. Grian came to the abrupt realization that he had nothing on the inside of his house. Running up the stairs, he handed the sleeping child to a bewildered Stress before hurriedly putting up some walls.

“What kind of room do we need?” he called to the quickly approaching party, “A bedroom, and?” 

“I’ll set up another room, fanks” 

Stress laid the child down on a hastily placed bed, glancing around as a room began to take shape. 

Grian was flitting around the room, having by now finished all walls and ceiling, just adding small details. He placed a second bed across the room from the first, beckoning for Keralis to set down the baby. Gosh, it looked so much like Scar. It was hugging the Jellie plush with all its baby might, managing to almost fall out of its seated position. It even acted like Scar, if Scar happened to a year old. Finally, he finished by adding a curtain through the middle, separating the two children.

“Finally got some interior in this place,” Doc joked, “took you awhile”

The group began to discuss what to do, main conversation points being that there now were two new people on the server, both appearing out of nowhere and seeming to have no connection to anyone, and concerning Xisuma’s warning. Grian wondered if the two children were what Xisuma had been warning them about. They didn’t look threatening, but that didn’t necessarily mean anything. It could have been a trick, to lull them into believing they were safe, just to stab them in the back when they least expected it. Would someone trying to trick them have run away? Would they have looked so, so scared when confronted? Surely they would have just used his and Keralis’s momentary surprise when they had first seen, or have chosen to appear as a baby? He didn’t know. The others seemed to be having a similar thought process, as it was also being discussed out loud.

He glanced over at the child, who was still asleep, though it was moving, terrified even in sleep. He detached himself from the ongoing conversation to walk over to the bed, gently sitting down. The others carried on with their conversation, not paying him much mind. The child was squirming around, trying to bury itself in the blankets, and looked close to tears. He brushed his hand along its back, comfortingly. After a moment, the child stopped thrashing, and its whimpers quieted. It curled around his arm, small hands wrapping around it, back to being peacefully asleep.

There was a lull in conversation as the group seemed to notice what he was doing.

“Aw, fink it likes you” Stress said, watching the scene play out.

“You didn’t see how terrified it was back at Larry. Doesn’t like me while awake, this one”

Grian decided to stay by the bed for a while longer. He glanced over at the other bed, through the partially open curtain at the baby. It had fallen asleep, little baby face pressed against Bdubs’s arm, its hand still clutching Bdubs’s pinkie finger. The toy was laid next to it. Stress’s voice pulled him out of his thoughts, announcing quietly that Evil Xisuma had arrived.

He moved from the bed, still needing context for who the heck Evil Xisuma was. He went back outside the little room, most other Hermits following suit. Bdubs lagging behind to get the baby to let go of him, careful not to wake it. 

Outside, a man wearing armour similar to Xisuma’s was stood, looking concerned. Well, as concerned as he could look, Grian couldn’t see his face. Where Xisuma’s armour was usually green, Evil Xisuma’s was red. The visor was also red, contrasting with the purple he was used to. It was almost like Xisuma’s stride costume, but without the decorations on the helmet. 

The man spoke, low and sounding slightly distorted.

“What  **exactly** is going on.”

“Well, a couple-” Keralis was cut off. 

“I know about the warning,”

“Wait, how?” interjected Doc.

“He told me before he sent it. It is also something that concerns me.”

Most of the hermits were caught off-guard, not expecting that response. They weren’t sure what exactly had gone down between Xisuma and Evil Xisuma after the chaos, weren’t even sure where he’d disappeared off to.

“Must have been important, he and I were not on speaking terms” 

Again more concerned faces all around, except for one particular hermit, who still had no idea what was going on.

“Who even are you?”

“That’s none of your business, now finish telling me what happened after Xisuma went missing”

“WellafterthatwewenttoLarryandfoundtgesuitandalsotokids,helpusplease” Grian said, quickly as to not be cut off by Evil X.

“Slower?” 

“We thought him and Scar were missing so we went looking for them. In Scar’s village, we found Xisuma’s suit.” He paused, just long enough for Keralis to slip in a question.

“Will he be alright without the suit?”

Evil Xisuma paused, seemingly to consider his options. “He would be fine, without the suit. Helmet is important, though.”

Grian continued, “We went back and found two random people there later”

“People?” Evil Xisuma tensed, seeming worried.

“They’re kids. One’s a baby,” He relaxed, though only slightly. “We have them inside”

“Let me see them,” Evil Xisuma demanded, striding quickly toward the door. Joe, standing closer, blocked him.

“Shhh, they’re sleeping”

“Fine.” Evil Xisuma reached up and fiddled with a knob on his helmet, before speaking again. “Is this what you want?” His voice was now quieter, and a higher pitch that before. “I won’t hurt them,” Joe stepped aside, “Unless they are who I hope they aren’t”

Joe’s eyes widened and he looked back to the rest of the hermits, who were having a similar reaction. Grian stepped to the doorway, to watch what Evil Xisuma was doing. Running through this mind were worries, what if these kids were dangerous? What if they weren’t, by Evil Xisuma was? Would Evil Xisuma hurt them? Why did he feel the need to protect them? He’d seen the kids for maybe an hour, tops.

Evil X walked over to the sleeping baby first, as it was in the front of the room. He looked it over, then nodded to himself, before heading to the curtain.  _ Baby is fine, apparently _ , thought Grian. When Evil Xisuma opened the curtain however, he paused and stood stock-still, as if he had seen a ghost. He slowly approached the bed, looking almost,  _ scared _ ? Grian started to worry again. Evil Xisuma lay a gloved band over the child, almost, it seemed, caring, before turning around and walking briskly out. He fiddled with his helmet again.

The hermits gathered around him, worried. Was that reaction good, or bad? They glanced at each other, before Evil Xisuma began to speak. His voice was back to being loud and low, giving off a threatening aura.

“You  **idiots** . You’re all  **idiots** ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this at 1am so editing might be a little wacky. 
> 
> Thanks for the support and comments, I really appreciate it. New chapters should be coming quicker now, I was really swamped with school last week. 
> 
> Also is the chapter length ok? I’ve been trying to work on descriptions and pushing for 2,000 words a chapter.


	6. Evil X won’t tell them what’s going on

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Evil X kind of annoys everyone by not telling them what he knows
> 
> Also known as “Evil X thinks everyone is dumb”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for 100 kudos!
> 
> TW: mention of some really long grudges, a nightmare at the end.

Evil X turned away from them. He began to pace back towards the door.

“Hey! Are you going to elaborate on that?” Doc yelled at him.

“No.”

“Please tell us?”

Evil X looked back at Stress, seeming to consider what she had said, before turning back to the door. 

“I’ll tell you when I’m sure they haven’t hurt him. I’ll tell you when I’m sure  **you** haven’t hurt him”

The hermits were surprised, what had they done to the child? Grian and Keralis had simply carried the two of them back, neither hurting them. Evil Xisuma was almost out the door before anyone had the sense to run after him. 

“You wait right here, and you tell us what’s going on.” Bdubs said, with a ferocity quite unlike him.

“No. Where did you find them? Take me there, bring me the suit,” Evil X spat right back.

“Ugh, could you be less vague? We just want to know what’s going on” 

“It’s so obvious, are you all really this dense?” Evil X was clearly not giving answers anytime soon. “Figure it out.”

Evil X was gone, flying away on an elytra he had taken from somewhere. Bdubs and Doc were off after him, heated from the spat. Maybe Bdubs could show Evil X where they had found the kids? Doc would be able to protect them, thought Grian. He knew why everyone had been so hesitant to let Evil X back on the server now, the guy was just so angry, for no real reason. This interaction had given him more questions than answers, really, it had only given him more questions. At least now they knew the kids weren’t who Xisuma was referring to in his message, that was good.

Slowly, the remaining hermits made their way back inside, to keep watch over the children. 

Grian opened his communicator.

[Grian] Now I know why you guys call him Evil X

[Grian] The guy’s scary

[Iskall85] What do you expect, butterflies and rainbows?

[Iskall85] Of course we call him that for a reason

[TangoTek] What happened over there?

[TangoTek] Did you get the kid?

[StressMonster101] There’s two kids!

[StressMonster101] They’re really little!

[StressMonster101] One’s a baby, I fink

[TangoTek] What did Evil X do?

[Keralis1] Mostly yelled at us

[Grian] He called us idiots

[Grian] like 3 separate times in the span of a minute 

[joehillssays] After gracing is with his presence for several consecutive seconds, he decided to fly off into the unknown, with only Bdubs and Doc as a guide

[ZombieCleo] I’m going to break your legs if you let them go alone

[joehillssays] If you break my legs, I won’t be able to go after them?

He closed his communicator, satisfied that the others sort of knew what had happened. He went into the children’s room, and saw that the baby was awake. It was back to playing with the doll, closely monitored by Stress. The other child appeared to still be asleep. How much sleep do children need? He was slightly impatient, maybe Stress should make sure the boy was ok? He went back over to it, in case he had another nightmare. 

The boy curled up around him, still peacefully asleep. Grian thought for a moment. Why was Evil X so caught up over this boy? Why did he snap, call all of them idiots? What wasn’t he getting, what didn’t he realize? Were these someone’s kids? He went through the list of hermits in his head, mentally trying to match faces. Didn’t look like Stress, didn’t look like Joe. It was harder for the hermits not there, so he gave up fairly quickly. He looked over at the baby, the back at the boy. They didn’t look that similar, not like siblings. In fact, the boy didn’t look like anyone he had ever seen. 

What wasn’t he getting? It was probably fairly obvious, but that was a problem for when Evil X got back. At least he wasn’t the only one confused, that made him feel slightly better about the situation.

As he waited for something to happen, either the boy to wake up or for Evil X to come back, he decided to keep the others in the loop on what was happening.  _ See, I can be responsible. _ He opened his communicator and began tying up messages.

——————————

Evil X was angry. That wasn’t new. His idiot brother had sent him a message, out of the blue, that just said “They’re coming.” What the hell did that mean? Actually, he knew what that meant, but didn’t want to acknowledge it. He was back to just ignoring X, as X sometimes did him. 

They weren’t on speaking terms, and ok, maybe that was his fault. But X should have told him about things being flammable! He hadn’t meant for it to happen, to burn down and explode almost the entire world. But X didn’t even let him explain what happened! He just sent him back home, basically in a time out. He had poured for a bit, but by the time he had gotten over himself, it was too late. They hadn’t spoken in awhile, both too angry to start the conversation, and by now it was far too late, it would be like admitting defeat.

That was why he was so surprised. Whatever X had found must have spooked him pretty bad, to end a several years long grudge. After the first message, he had revived a second, that just said to wait for more information tomorrow.

X hadn’t messaged him the next day, or the day after. Evil X assumed he was being ignored again, until two of the hermits had messaged him. How? Who knew, he wasn’t on any of the main channels. But, StressMonster and Zedaph both messaged him, explaining that Xisuma was missing, that they found his suit and nothing else. They asked him to  _ return to the world. _ Could he? He didn’t know. They said their temporary admins could get him on. That wasn’t what worried him, what was most concerning was that X was gone, without the armor. X would not survive without the helmet. Even with respawn, it was a highly unpleasant experience, one that left them weak. Both he and Evil X needed it to breathe the Overworld air. He knew X, stubborn as he was, couldn’t breathe for longer than a few minutes without it. He agreed to come back to the Hermit’s world.

A few minutes later he entered into the world. It felt… different, from last time he was here. He swiped a few things from a nearby chest. An elytra, some food. He spotted his welcome committee in the sky.

They touched down, handing him some rockets. Back to the skies. As they flew, it was explained that there were new developments, the appearance of new people. Stress kept checking her communicator, apparently whatever was happening was happening  **right now** . 

It was a long flight, but eventually he was directed to a large mansion, mostly finished and very impressive. He had to say, whoever built it knew what they were doing. As he was ushered inside, he realized that whoever had built the place had completely forgotten to make an interior. It was just a single room inside, hastily built. 

Out of it, several people piled out to greet him. Most of them he recognized, Joe, poet, Bdubs, detailed builder Doc, the intimidating cyborg, and Keralis, a wide eyed builder. On top of them Stress and one other person, who he didn’t know. They were short, had blonde hair, brown eyes and wore a large, red sweater. Most impressively, they had a set of large, brown wings upon their back. The hermits around him were talking, at and about him. 

He decided to see what the fuss was about. He stepped towards the room. Wrong. His path was blocked by Joe. Sighing, he turned off the voice modulator in his helmet. Rolling his eyes, he told them he wouldn’t hurt the kids.

Joe moved, and he was free to step inside. The room was relatively small, just housing two beds and a curtain. He could feel the eyes boring into the back of his skull as he approached the first bed.

Laying upon it was a baby, sleeping. Why had the hermits found a baby? Where had they found a baby? Well, it wasn’t dangerous, as the hermits suspected. Why did they seem to think a baby was dangerous? The thing could only have been 18 months old, tops.

He moved over to the curtain. He was not prepared for what he saw when he moved it. He froze, eying the bed.

It was X, X as a child. It brought back memories, memories he didn’t want to think about. Memories of X, taking care of him when they were little, after Dad disappeared. X, finding them food. X, bringing him back toys. X, playing games with him in their little house. He shook his head, almost imperceptibly, to shake away the memories. Almost automatically, he walked over to the bed. He set his hand on X’s small, sleeping figure. 

X would be so confused when he awoke. He probably wouldn’t know why he was in the Overworld, not the Deep End in their home. He wouldn’t know why he wasn’t wearing outside armour, or his helmet. X’s helmet! Could X breathe? 

The hand on X’s back indicated that, yes, he could breathe. For now. Who knew how long that would last. He needed to get X’s helmet. He began to panic, striding out of the room.

Outside, the hermits were chattering quietly. They looked to him. They wanted to know if the kids were dangerous. Did they not realize? The other child must have been Scar, who was apparently also missing. The would have to be ridiculously dense to not notice that the children they found were  _ the exact people they were looking for _ . Even they couldn’t miss that,  **_right?_ **

Apparently not. He addressed them as such, an appropriate amount of insult in his tone. They wanted to know more, but no. There wasn’t time, he had to find the helmet so X didn’t die. X couldn’t die, not in this form. He began to panic more, growing snappier with his responses. He would let them figure it out, wallow in their own stupidity for a while. He wondered who would figure it out first. 

He made towards the exit of the house, pausing to make sure someone would follow, so he could make them help find the helmet. He flew off, in the right direction, he hoped, leaving murmured protests in his wake.

———————-

He collapsed, the effort of holding the barrier too much for his small body to uphold. He was tired, so tired. He hoped the people wouldn’t trap him like the villagers while he slept. He hoped they wouldn’t hurt the baby either, maybe Key would hold them off. Key was scary. He drifted off into unconsciousness.

_______________

Someone was carrying him. That was fine. A soft material was against his cheek, an arm on his back. Who the person was, he didn’t know, but the rocking motion from the person walking was enough to lull him back to sleep.

————————

A feather tickled his cheek, enough to wake him slightly. He was still being carried. Maybe the person carrying him was Dad? No, that wasn’t right. Dad was gone. Still, he wrapped his arms around the person, before falling back to sleep.

———————-

They were coming! They were going to get him! Get him, hurt him, take Z, take the baby. Take them like they took Dad. His heart was racing. Hide, hide. Had to hide. He was flailing around, he was caught in something. They had gotten him, they were going to take him! It was a hand, a claw, everywhere. Grabbing him, there was no escape. He was almost crying.

A soft voice was pulling him out of his nightmares, nightmares he didn’t even realize he was in. A soft voice, whispering that it was ok, that he was fine. A hand, running down his back. This hand wasn’t grabbing, though, like the ones in his nightmares. It was soft, comforting. 

He twisted around, still mostly asleep, and grabbed ahold of the hand. He was glad it was there, something to hold onto, a lifeline from his nightmares. He fell back asleep to whispered conversation, and that for now, he was safe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the support! I love reading and responding to the comments you guys leave! You guys can ask me questions and stuff that I’ll do my best to answer. I have a page full of background for this story that I want to use somewhere lol
> 
> I’ve now come to the realization that in every chapter I warn about the editing, because I am dumb and write and edit at 2am


	7. Questioning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grian and Stress ask some questions and get rather... concerning answers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: He kinda hyperventilates a bit

Grian looked around at Stress and Bdubs, the only hermits remaining. Bdubs was sitting next to the baby, waving his fingers around at it. The baby was entranced, following every movement with its large eyes. Stress was leaving to chat with someone who had shown up outside, to fill them in on the situation. He wondered how long it would take for the child to wake up. Would it be before, or after Evil X decided to tell them who it was? Did Evil X actually know, or was it just a prank? He didn’t know Evil X well enough to tell. He looked back up at the door. Stress was back, whoever was outside had left. He went around the curtain to the other side of the room.

The child stood by the bed, looking around. It looked to be concentrating hard, but on what, Grian couldn’t tell. It hadn’t noticed him yet.

He motioned Stress over as the child looked up. It backed itself into the corner of the bed, back to the wall. It stared at them, eyes narrowed. Stress spoke first.

“It’s alright, we ain’t gonna hurt ya”

——————————

He jerked awake to the sound of a conversation. He couldn’t see who was speaking, and he was still too exhausted to make out the English words being spoken.

He looked around. This wasn’t the room he had been in earlier. Where was the baby? He got out of the bed, hoping to find that the baby was just playing on the floor. It wasn’t. Neither was Key, both probably taken by whatever had brought him here. Maybe the portal would work now? He tried to open one, but again, it was like it didn’t even exist.

While he was focused on the portal, people had entered the room. Two, to be exact. The both began to move towards him, so he pressed himself to the wall. He didn’t know who they were, what if they tried to take him? Actually, he thought, they already did. Either way, better safe than sorry. They were talking to him now, but he was having a hard time translating.

The words and the people creeping closer were making him panic. He didn’t know who they were, he didn’t know what they wanted. Warnings ran through his head for the second time that morning.

——————————

“No!”

The child’s accent was strange, but seemed familiar. Grian couldn’t for the life of him figure out where he’d heard it before.

“No? What ya sayin no to?”

“W-Who are you?” The child’s little voice was shaking as it tried to decipher what Stress had said.

“This here is Stress,” he gestured towards Stress, “and I’m Grian,” he pointed to himself, “Can you tell us who you are?”

“No! Need to find Z! And Baby! You took it!” It glared at them.

Grian noted with concern that the child was wheezing its every breath. Stress had noticed it as well, moving slightly closer in her concern.

“Can ya breathe slower for me?”

The child shook its head. “I’m…” it seemed to struggle for words, speaking briefly in a foreign language, “Fine! I’m fine!”

“I’m going to touch you, ok?” Stress said, as she reached out to touch the child.

It stared at her hand, shifting away as much as it could. Grian could almost see the gears turning in its head as it tried to figure out what was going on. It let Stress put a hand to its chest, still breathing heavily and noisily.

“Can ya tell me what’s wrong? Do ya know why ya can’t breathe?”

“No! Fine!”

—————————

He couldn’t breathe, smushed all the way in the corner. He wanted to go home, he wanted his helmet. His own, regular sized helmet. He wanted to make sure Z was alright, the baby too. He wanted Dad to come back, and take him away from here. First, he needed to breathe.

As he tried to calm down, someone else walked into the room. He took no notice, for a while, focused on not suffocating or crying.

He was still trying when the baby was sat down next to him! He gave it a hug. They hadn’t hurt it! They’d given it back! Maybe… Maybe they weren’t who Dad warned him about?

—————————

Who’s this?” Grian asked softly. He didn’t know if the child would answer, but he hoped it would.

The child shrugged, “Found! I take baby back home,” it wheezed, eyes widening, “Can’t! It’s gone!” The child began to cry, whatever was gone causing the child to panic more. “╎ ∴ᔑリℸ ̣ ℸ ̣ 𝙹 ⊣𝙹 ⍑𝙹ᒲᒷ”

(I want to go home)

What did that mean? Found? The kid just found the baby and decided to take it home? What was gone? The child’s home? Grian seriously had no clue what any of that meant, but that was besides the point. The child was still sobbing, curled into a tight ball in the corner. It seemed to struggle to breathe even harder now, coughing with every other breath. Bdubs removed the baby, afraid it might get hurt.

The child was clearly very stressed and scared. Grian didn’t know how it would react, but they needed it to calm down. He reached down to pick it up, wasn’t that what you did to comfort children? It was still coughing, but seemed to not fight back. He sat down on the bed, and did his best to comfort and soothe the child, whispering it’s alright and just breathe, hoping the child understood.

For the second time, he noticed just how frail the child seemed. It was also wearing clothes that were way too big. Its black pants were held up only by the fact that they seemed to be attached to the shirt, legs both rolled up and going long past the child’s feet. They had holes where the child’s knees were, exposing a relatively new scrape on both knees. It wasn’t wearing shoes. The short sleeved shirt it wore went all the way down to its wrists. Clearly, not clothes for children.

After the child had calmed sufficiently and was coughing significantly less, he began to softly whisper, as the child seemed content to stay on his lap. Odd, thinking back to its behavior just a few minutes ago, but he’d take it.

“You want to go home?”

The child nodded.

“Do you know where it is so we can take you there?”

“I-It’s gone”

“Gone? Where’d it go?”

“The portal won’t work,” the child said, as a way of explanation.

Portal? Who knew. Not for him to unpack right now, as the child was actually answering questions. Besides, Stress was listening as well.

“What’s at home that you want?”

“It’s gone! Z’s there. Have to find him,” the last bit was more mumbled than anything else.

“Who’s Z?” Grian prodded gently.

“My brother. He’s 3!”

With every question, the child’s speech got better, with longer answers given.

“I’m sure he’ll be alright, your parents are at home to take care of him”

“No! I take care of him! I have to get back!”

That was… interesting. Also probably highly unsafe. Stress was also looking on, highly concerned.

“We’ll get ya back. Before then, can I make sure you’re alright?”

A nod, then Stress pulled the child on to the bed and Grian stood. He opened his communicator and began to quickly type out messages.

[Grian]: So, interesting news.

[Grian]: The kid found the baby and decided to adopt it

[Grian]: They were trying to go back “home” but apparently can’t

[Grian]: Also kid is in charge of a second, smaller kid at home.

[Grian]: Whatever we do with them, we are not sending them back.

He closed his communicator before any questions could be asked. He looked up at Stress, wondering if she had figured out what was wrong yet.

“Well, I dunno about the coughing, but the only injury I see is ‘is knees. And also ‘e’s malnourished, so we should probably find some food”

——————————-

Ex touched down on a tree about a hundred blocks out. He knew there were people following him, might as well let them tell him where he should check.

“What was that?!” someone yelled at him from behind. He turned. Ah, it was Doc. He could see someone else flying in from the sky, a ways behind.

“It was a quick exit, now tell me where you found them”

“Why should I tell you? Give me one good reason.”

“Because, if you don’t, he’ll die. He can’t respawn”

Doc looked concerned, briefly, before back to threatening. “How do I know you’re telling the truth?”

“You don’t.”

Ex didn’t know how to make his point clearer. X would die without the helmet. He really, really didn’t want that to happen. Though he may have had his disagreements with present day Xisuma, he didn’t want him to die. He especially didn’t want little X to die. He was probably scared out of his mind, no helmet and no one he knew. He had to find the helmet as quickly as possible and get back.

Was he even recognizable to a child X? He was a lot older. X would probably think of him as a little baby, not as an adult.

Joe touched down on a second tree. “Howdy. I heard Grian encountered them first over at Scar’s wonderful village”

Doc smacked his hand against his forehead, then flew off.

“Am I following him or...?” Ex asked.

“I would assume that yes, he is headed that direction”

———————-

They arrived at said village, and Ex immediately began his search. He checked the alleyways, he checked around the square. He didn’t want to go inside any of the houses, because hey, those were somebody’s houses.

Joe and Doc watched him move around frantically in his search for the helmet. It was odd to them, Ex really did seem worried. It wasn’t like anything they’d heard from him before. He was usually threatening, but this time they could really feel the weight behind his words.

“They were found in the snail,” called Doc. He and Joe watched as Ex almost ran up and into the snail. He hadn’t told them what he was looking for, so they couldn’t exactly help him look.

Ex rummaged around the first floor of the snail house, looking everywhere for the helmet. He checked all the little nooks a child could reach, noting that there was a cookie left on the table. He smiled, X loved cookies as a kid. He’d always bring back a couple for them to stash at home.

His communicator buzzed. He’d wired it up to receive messages on any server he joined, even without being whitelisted. What you did when you were left with all the time in the world.

[Grian]: So, interesting news.

[Grian]: The kid found the baby and decided to adopt it

[Grian]: They were trying to go back “home” but apparently can’t

[Grian]: Also kid is in charge of a second, smaller kid at home.

[Grian]: Whatever we do with them, we are not sending them back.

Oh, X had found a baby and tried to adopt it. That was so like him, even for a five year old. He’d done that for his entire adult life too, look at this server. He almost laughed at the image of X trying to drag both a little him and a baby around.

He returned to frantically searching, this time upstairs. He found a pile of blankets by a bed, seemingly slept on. He spotted a glimpse of purple, so he quickly pulled them back to reveal the helmet.

Inspecting it, he realized that it was still adult sized. Would it still help? He really hoped it would.

He rushed outside to meet Doc and Joe, gruff demeanor back.

“I found his helmet. Take me back so I can make sure he can breathe,”

Doc looked from Ex to the helmet, the back to Ex. “Why would anyone need Xisuma’s helmet? He’s not here.”

“Because, you idiots, that is X. Can you not recognize one of your own?”

“Xisuma? One of the children is Xisuma?”

“Yes, and the other is Scar.”

Ex gave up on being gruff and angry. He was worried that by the time they got back, X would die. Did they not realize the severity of the situation?

“Now _please_ take me back so I can help him”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so this chapter took FOREVER. This chapter and I, we were not vibing. I rewrote it three times, and it’s shorter than normal. Also my county is back under lockdown and I’m in zoom school everyday, which means less time to write.
> 
> Thanks for the support and expect more soonish
> 
> Edit: If you read this within the hour of posting, read the end again bc I added more


	8. Realization

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which some people see some very obvious truths

Ex all but ran into the mansion, Doc and Joe a ways behind him. They’d come to the agreement that Doc and Joe would stay out of his way and let him deal with X. Ex didn’t know if X would even know him, so it was better to try and introduce only him.

He held the helmet in front of him, and when he didn’t hear X struggling for breath inside, set it down outside the door. 

As he stepped inside, he was surprised to see all three adults and two children on the far side of the room. X was awake now, and happily playing with the baby and sitting on Grian’s lap. Ex was surprised to see X so calm, he’d expected X to be scared. For a moment, no one noticed him. All the adults had their backs to him, and X was busy. He smiled at the peaceful scene, he was glad X appeared to have not freaked out.

—————————

Grian was watching the child, who was back on his lap, play with the baby, when its face suddenly brightened. It had seen something behind him and began wiggling around to get down. Grian turned to see Evil X standing in the corner, watching them. The child ran up and hugged Evil X’s legs, seemingly to the surprise of the man.

“Dad!”

If anyone had seen Ex’s face then, they would have seen his eyebrow shoot almost off his face.

Grian looked at Ex, “Dad?”

“No- I,” he glanced down at the child still hugging his legs. He beckoned Grian over, not wanting to upset X. They carried on a hushed conversation.

“Are- is this your kid??”

“Does it lo-“ Ex stopped himself. Yeah, it kinda did. “Hell no. I’m  **not** his dad. He-he might think I am though”

“You think? He ran right for you. He wouldn’t even look at us at first,”

“Well-“ Ex looked down again. X looked so happy to see who he thought was his dad. Ex didn’t know if he had the heart to break it to him. “I- I should probably tell him”

“Wait- why does he think you’re his dad?”

“Because,” he sighed, “just because.”

Grian moved away to let Ex talk to the child. Ex picked up the child, who immediately latched his arms around the helmeted figure’s neck. Grian chuckled quietly to himself, that kid did not look like he planned on letting go anytime soon. Whatever Ex was saying to the kid was making it unhappy though, and he couldn’t quite tell exactly what Ex was saying. He was speaking in another language, with some small English phrases thrown in.

One he did catch was, “X, it’s ok,” before it dissolved into the other language.

Well, he wasn’t going to know what Ex was telling the kid- _ Wait did he say X? _ X as in Xisuma? Oh.  **_OH_ ** . He’d figured out why Ex was calling them idiots, and boy did they deserve it. The pieces were falling into place in his mind, where they’d found them, the breathing thing, Ex recognizing the child. What did that mean for the other baby though? What did that mean for Scar? Wa-was the other baby Scar? He studied the baby’s face intently, searching for a bit of the Scar he knew. The baby stared back, reaching out to him and babbling. It had the plush on its lap. My god, they were idiots. That was Scar, alright. How had he not seen it? It was so, so blatantly obvious.  **It had literally been carrying around a Jellie.** He covered his face with his hands, inhaling sharply. 

“That’s Scar.” He whispered, wondering who else had noticed. Apparently no one, as they all looked at him curiously. 

“Hmm?” Stress said back.

“That’s Scar,” he repeated, louder this time.

Bdubs turned the baby to face him, also inspecting it. “Now that you say that, yes, it most definitely is” 

The baby fell face first from its sitting position onto the mattress. Bdubs picked it up, making sure it was alright. It was, and smiled brightly at them. It tried to wave its hands again, but had managed to entangle itself in its shirt in the short time it had fallen. Oh, this was Scar alright. Stress helped to free Scar’s hands, though he remained unfazed throughout. 

Ex had finished his conversation with X, and was now asking them to leave the room. X seemed to be glaring at Ex now, an interesting development.

“Why?” asked Grian, concerned.

“Just, uh, well. I’ve got to prove my identity” Ex’s voice wasn’t robotic, like it had been before. He paused more and one could actually hear emotion in his voice. His voice lacked his usual fury.

Grian didn’t give the others a chance to respond, “Oh! Alright! Do you want us to take Scar or…?”

“Finally figured it out, huh.” Ex’s voice carried a hint of amusement. “Yeah, take him”

—————————

Ex really, really didn’t want to have to tell X. But as Grian turned away, he knew it was his only option. He began in Galactic, X knew that language best.

“⍑ᒷ||, ̇/.” Ex knelt down to X’s eye level. X was still very attached to his leg, so he pried him off and lifted X off the ground.

_ (Hey, X.) _

“⍑╎! ∴⍑|| ╎ᓭ ||𝙹⚍∷ ᔑ∷ᒲ𝙹∷ ∷ᒷ↸? ∴⍑ᒷ∷ᒷ ↸╎↸ ||𝙹⚍ ⊣𝙹? ∴⍑ᒷ∷ᒷ’ᓭ ⨅?” X was firing off questions, babbling on in a way that was barely coherent, even to Ex.

( _ Hi! Why’s your armor red? Where did you go? Where’s Z?) _

“̇/, ╎’ᒲ リ𝙹ℸ-“ Ex was cut off by more questions, and continued trying to explain for a few minutes, before what he was saying finally seemed to get through to X.

_ (X I’m not-) _

—————————-

If this wasn’t Dad, who was it? Why were they wearing armor? He’d never seen anyone with armor like them before. He tried to scramble away from Not-Dad, but couldn’t. He was still being held by Not-Dad. He settled for squirming and glaring, neither of which worked. Not-Dad was saying things in an attempt to calm him down, but he didn’t care.

He caught the end of the word Z, and abruptly stopped struggling. “∴⍑ᒷ∷ᒷ’ᓭ ⨅”

_ (Where’s Z) _

_ (X, I am Z) _

“̇/, ╎ ᔑᒲ ⨅.” Ex spoke softly, hoping not to scare X. He knew it wasn’t really a great answer, probably not one that X would accept, but it was the truth.

X clearly did not believe him, doubt written all over his tiny face. He rambled about how, Z was little, Ex was big. They weren’t the same.

Ex had an idea. X would recognize his face, right? 

———————-

Outside the little room, the hermits were having a discussion of their own. Doc and Joe had arrived soon after Ex, and had remained patiently outside the door. Stress, Bdubs and Grian came out carrying Scar.

Grian, holding Scar, held him out. “So guy, this is Scar.”

The others nodded. Everyone in the room knew. 

“Did you guys figure it out yourselves?” asked Doc.

“Kinda? He didn’t tell us,” 

“He’s acting weird.” Doc stated, more to himself.

“Who? Ex?” Grian asked.

“Yeah, he is being weird,” agreed Bdubs.

“He’s plotting something, I swear. Last time we saw him he tried to burn the server to the ground!”

Burn the server to the ground? Grian didn’t really understand what they were talking about. He’d talked to the guy twice(ish), and both times he seemed a little scary, but more of an overall niceish guy, now that he understood why he’d been called an idiot.

————————

As he watched the door swing shut, Ex finally set X down. X didn’t scramble away, exactly, but he did press himself to the closest wall. Ex sat down, pulling his helmet off his head, revealing his face, covered in scars, and his white hair. 

X studied him for a moment, before jumping towards him. “Z!” 

Ex smiled. X sat in front of him, questions beginning anew. Most of X’s questions revolved around Z being big now, and a couple of questions about the baby. Ex answered him the best he could, explaining that the baby was X’s friend, and that he was just older now.

X’s questions began to die off, and he put a little hand up to Ex’s face. He lightly touched a scar on Ex’s nose. “Why?” he asked.

Ex was surprised. He didn’t think X would notice them, were they that prominent? He’d not seen himself in a mirror lately, so maybe they were. He… didn’t want to tell X how he’d gotten them. He decided it was now time to put his helmet back on.

———————

X studied the man’s face. It looked like Z, pale face and white hair. The man had lots of lines across his face though, ones he was sure Z didn’t have. 

The man looked at him expectantly. It was Z, he decided. He was still very confused. Why was Z big? What was on his face? Where was Dad?

Z asked him if he wanted his helmet. Yes! He did want the helmet. Z said he would get the helmet. The other people came back in, who were they, he asked. The other people introduced themselves, after a quick translation by Z. There were more people than before! That was ok, if Z trusted them so did he. Red Sweater’s name was Grian, he learned. There was also Stress and Bdubs and Doc and Joe and they told him the baby was called Scar. 

He was happy. Z was safe, he was safe! The people were giving him things, maybe they would even give him food! Z was big now, almost as big as Dad. Z was talking above him in English. When did Z learn English? 

Z was directing him, telling him to stand up so he could be scanned. He didn’t know what that meant, but he did it anyway. They kept holding out his hands, turning him around and poking his stomach. He didn’t like it, but Z was there. 

He looked around. It was all so weird, so calm and happy. He almost didn’t trust it. They let him get up, and wander around the room.

————————

X was tugging on one of his wings, small hand just barely skimming one of the feathers. His face was full of childish wonder as he watched them move. Grian moved so that it would be closer to X. He didn’t mind. He crouched further and tried to speak with X. 

“You want to touch them?”

X nodded, and Grian sat on the floor. He handed X a stray feather, and smiled at X’s awestruck expression. It was like he’d never seen a feather before.

Grian felt Ex’s stare boring into his head, but when he looked up, Ex simply nodded approvingly. 

“He trusts you”

————————

It was weird, seeing X so open and trusting. He couldn’t remember ever seeing him laugh or play outside of their home as a child. Really, it was good. Laughing would have left their guard down, and that would have gotten them killed.

X’s seriousness had kept him alive through childhood, really it had kept both of them alive. X had always been wise beyond his years, even at 5, trying to scavenge food and hide them away. Ex was glad X was having fun. He deserved a chance to be a kid, instead of a caretaker for once. Ex knew, in the back of his mind, that X would eventually go back to being an adult, back to serious all the time, never removing his armour Xisuma. Xisuma who hated him. Hated Ex, or wouldn’t acknowledge him. It would be back to living in their abandoned home, back to the only people who knew he was alive calling him an Evil rip-off or clone. 

X was playing on the floor with some feathers, staring at them or waving them around. It made Ex smile under his helmet. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want to say thanks for all the support, the positive comments mean a lot to me.


End file.
